newsobserver.com projects - Senate debates budget less than House - Comments

Re: Senate debates budget less than House

kevinsmith5 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:17:27 -0400

Maybe if they debated it more they might actually figure out what's really in it. I get tired of them making the budget out to be better for teachers every year than it is for state employees. Once again this year the Legislature claimed publicly to have "taken care of the teachers first". They say they gave us a 3% raise, which even if true would be less than inflation. Unfortunately when you look at the pay scales they actually gave us less of a raise, I can't find anywhere on the pay scale where anybody got more than 2.5%. They gave state employees that aren't teachers 2.75% or $1100, whichever was more. Well my wife and I are both teachers (with a combined twenty years teaching) and I can tell you that every state employee got a bigger pay raise than either of us.

Why don't reporters ever actually check the numbers when lawmakers make demonstrably false claims? Too much like actually reporting?

Thought it migth have been

Senate — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:54:03 -0400

Thsi guy:

Re: The House has grown...

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:17:59 -0400

Fixed. Thanks!

— RTB

The House has grown...

Senate — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:09:03 -0400

...by 1.

Since the end of session. Who is the mysterious 121st member of the house?

Senate debates budget less than House

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:01:20 -0400

The Senate does not debate the budget as much as the House.

How much less? Try about 15 hours over the past six years.

Since 2003, state senators spent about nine hours debating the budget on the floor, while the House spent a little over 24 hours, based on time stamps on budget motions recorded by legislative staffers.

Typically, the House spends between two and six hours on floor debate each year, while the Senate gets it over in an hour or less.

The biggest gap was 2007, when the House spent enough time to watch the first three "Star Wars" movies back-to-back, while the Senate debated long enough for about one and a half episodes of "Friends."

One reason for the difference is sheer numbers. The House has 120 members, while the Senate has 50. That means not only more legislators to hear from, but also more factions to split off and debate side issues on the budget.

Another reason is that Senate leaders often cut off debate early.

After the jump, the hours and our methodology.